Mount Potalaka (, Japanese: è£ÂéÂÂæ´ Fudaraku-san), which means "Brilliance", is the mythical dwelling of the Buddhist bodhisattva Avalokiteà Âvara, said to exist in the seas south of India.
The mountain is first mentioned in the final chapter of the Avataá¹Âsaka Sà «tra, the Gaá¹Âá¸Âavyà «ha Sà «tra, where the chapter's protagonist journeys to seek the advice of Avalokiteà Âvara.
The Japanese scholar Shu Hikosaka, on the basis of his study of Buddhist scriptures, ancient Tamil literary sources, as well as field surveys, proposed the hypothesis that the ancient Mount Potalaka, the residence of Avalokiteà Âvara described in the Gaá¹Âá¸Âavyà «ha Sà «tra and XuanzangâÂÂs Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, is the real mountain Potikai or Potiyil situated near the town of Ambasamudram in the Tirunelveli District of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The mountain is located in an area within the Singampatti Zamindar Forest. Shu also says that Mount Potiyil/Potalaka has been a sacred place for the people of South India from time immemorial.
With the spread of Buddhism in the region beginning at the time of the great king AÃ Âoka in the third century BCE, it became a holy place also for Buddhists who gradually became dominant as a number of their hermits settled there. The local people, though, mainly remained followers of Hinduism.
Later Japanese Buddhists, such as the Japanese Yogacara monk JÃ Âkei, espoused aspiring rebirth on Mount Potalaka as an easier way to attain progress on the Buddhist path than the more well-known pure land of AmitÃÂbha.
Places named after Mount Potalaka include: